Wild prospect scrimmage starting; Burns coaching one of the teams
Posted on July 12th, 2009 – 12:11 PMBy Michael Russo
Live from the X, where a number of diehards have made the long trek out to St. Paul.
Prospects are warming up currently, and I hear a surprise is about to happen.
Brent Burns, dressed in Don Cherry garb, plans to coach one of the teams. Nice honeymoon!
Cal Clutterbuck’s coaching the other team. He’s dressed as Cal Clutterbuck.
This thing needs to start. Wild personality Kevin Falness’ Jumbotron features are driving me loco. And you know he rather be golfing.
Chris Snow just called Burns and said “where are you?” He goes, “In the room. Waiting for the scrimmage.”
Snow goes, “It started!!!”
Clutterbuck just ran to the ice. He only missed 10 minutes.
No score still. Darcy Kuemper, on the white team, just absolutely stoned Tyler Cuma from point blank.
Morten Madsen just gave the white team a 1-0 lead with a short side shot past Matt Hackett.
Green tied it. Harri Ilvonen or Kris Foucault got it.
Burns, while literally reading a magazine, didn’t realize there were too many men. Anthony Hamburg scored on a penalty shot. White leads 2-1.
3-1 white. Alex Fallstrom on a breakaway. 4-1 white. Erik Haula on a breakaway.
Burns pulled Hackett for an extra attacker. I don’t think he knows there’s a whole other half.
1,650 people here.
SECOND HALF
5-1 white. Madsen again. Burns’ is getting heckled by the fans. Clutterbuck’s just laughing from the other bench.
5-2. One shift after he and Petr Kalus got into a nasty wrestling match, Gillies scores from way out.
6-2…Hamburg again — the 17-year-old taken in the seventh round.
6-3…Gillies, making his brother Burnzie proud, just scored a beauty breakaway. As Mike Greenlay said, “Gillies schooling the youngsters.” Gillies is 20.
7-3…Carson McMillan from way out.
Burns pulling Hackett down 7-3.
Fridley’s Jarom Palmer just made it 7-4.
Clutterbuck talking smack to Burnzie. Game over. 7-4 White.
Good day.
70 Responses to "Wild prospect scrimmage starting; Burns coaching one of the teams"
It would be better if Cal dressed up as Don Cherry since they got into last season
Ah CRAP! I wanna be there!
I picked a bad weekend to be out of town since I only live a few blocks from the X. *sigh*
This is hilarious, wish I was there!
We just returned from the ‘X’ after the scrimmage. Sections 126, 101-105 opened. The place was comfortably full, well over 1,000 in attendance, late comers had to stand.
Petr Kalus with the cheap-shot of the day, an elbow just before the half-way point on Jarod Palmer. Not the time to do this, Petr. Maybe in the KHL. Not here.
For Ms. C.: Hackett had a lot of goals scored on deflections, tips, etc., but Darcy Kuemper showed he needs to work on his high shots, he kept getting beat upstairs.
That’s it in brief. I’ll leave the rest to the working man…
Gillies should have played much better… neither of his goals would have gone in with a quality NHL goaltender. He never passed the biscuit either. Always tried to lower is shoulder and wheel, didn’t work. Keep in mind this was 4 on 4 and in the NHL he would not even have gotten a shot off playing like that. He also played really stuck up because he is a Vet compared to these young guys… blah…
Typical Kalus. Knob.
Damn, Gillies will be great in the A. 
They put the game on Wild TV so I can watch it tomorrow. YAY!
Thanks for the recaps!
Anybody stand out in particular?
Kudos to the Wild for printing up more team rosters, available by intermission. They did several live interviews including CF, TR, Mike Ramsey, both bench coaches and Mr. Russo. Just being in the X, the sights and sounds of hockey action was a welcome event. They showed a video of the prospects at a cooking school, doing food prep and enjoying the meal. Very swell.
Morten Madsen and Anthny Hamburg (yes, the Texas kid) did indeed stand out today, as did Matt Kassian, who seemed to be involved in a lot of things. They were treating Colton Gillies as a ’senior citizen’ interviewing him on the bench, etc., as the game wore on.
I’m still wondering where Burns got that fedora. Reminded me of Toe Blake, old Montreal coach, with hair…
Fun afternoon at the rink.
Ms.C-
Kris Foucault did to me…he always seemed to have the puck on his stick, and he’s got a very very good shot. Heavy and accurate.
The place was packed tho. Even at the drink rail it was 1-2 deep.
Madsen? Really? Wow. Love for that guy to be more effective this season.
Was there an elo eero sighting, or whatever his name is?
Hey guys! I am sure some of you were there as well so I figured I’d try my best to give my opinions on as many players as possible. I forgot a pen so I wasn’t able to take notes but I remember the players that stood out. Feel free to post your views here as well!
Gillies: It was ironic to me because he was a man amongst boys just like the NHL was to him last year. He is still lanky, has great n/s speed and decent hands. I believe he had two goals. He was strong on the boards and down low around the net. He came together with Kalus (whom I don’t think made any friends today–more on that later) once and they tangled a bit. I expect him to have a productive year in Houston. Give him more ice time and 15-20 more pounds and I believe he will be a good player to use as a checker and on the powerplay.
Petr Kalus- He has speed and some size but he certainly doesn’t care about backchecking. I know this was a prospect scrimmage but he didn’t skate hard unless someone had their head down or it was an offensive opportunity. He played really physical the first of two periods and absolutely rocked someone (help me out guys, I believe it was Brian Kaufman but am not sure). He did go to the net and played a lot up front with Madsen. They looked comfortable but did not dominate the way you would expect being older and more experienced. Again, it was just two 25 minute periods of play but Kalus appears to have that “me” attitude.
Alexander Fallstrom- I really liked what I saw from him. He is a big player with some good speed and good hands. He was a noticeable player all day and appeared to have a good hockey IQ. I am happy he is intelligent (Harvard) but wish he was going to a better hockey program. But, again, I liked what I saw from him today.
Anthony Hamburg- The only player who had to wear a full shield today does have some sick hands. But, he doesn’t skate much and was weak on the puck. He showed great hands down low. Hopefully, being drafted and maturing with light a fire underneath him. He and Foucault had the best hands today but Foucault showed decent speed, hustle and a good shot, whereas Hamburg was lazy and weak.
Hickey- I hope someone else got a good read on him. I noticed his number once or twice and that was because he was carrying the puck.
Kaufman- Like the above, I didn’t notice him much.
Foucault- I was really impressed with Foucault. He showed great hands in transition, some good saucer passes and a good shot. I hope he is the late bloomer he appears to be. He showed decent speed and wasn’t taken off the puck easily.
Kassian- He stood out with a sore thumb because of his lack of hockey IQ. He skates better than Boogy (who doesn’t?), can shoot, but appeared to be one step behind.
Haula- Haula had the nicest play of the day, toe-dragging around Cuma (Cuma got worked again by either Kyle Medvec or Sean Lorenz–damn pen!!), then deking out Hackett. Haula also played physical and appears to be a pretty stocky player. He reminds me of Filippula of Detroit. He didn’t have blazing speed or a rocket shot but had good positioning, good hands and was physical. He was fun to watch.
Madsen- He definitely looked more experienced than most of the players out there but for having two AHL seasons, didn’t look like a man amongst boys. He looked bigger and able to cut in from the outside but that was it. He’s only 22 but he doesn’t looke like anything more than an AHL player who will probably be overseas in a few years.
McMillan- This kid was noticeable as well. He is a big guy who appears to have more tools than Foy and Wanvig did. Again, this is only a prospects scrimmage but he seemed to be able to move E/W pretty well. He has good speed, was physical and had a few goals. One I believe was sitting around the net and the other was a nice hard slapshot that beat Hackett’s lower left side. I think he will be a good player for Houston this year.
Eero Elo- He looked very average to me. I can’t tell if he was hustling but he doesn’t come across as a guy with the greatest athleticism. He was a big body who got a couple OK shots on net but was not noticeable with his hands or around the net/wall for his frame. I was hoping to see a little more speed and physicalness from him.
Jarod Palmer–I didn’t notice him in the scrimmage but he had the nicest shootout goal of the day. He dropped the puck between his legs, kicked it to the backhand, went to forehand, then as his body went to the left dragged it to his backhand with one hand and barely slid it in.
Leddy– He does skate very well but looked to be the weakest player out there. His passes were not hard, he wasn’t able to play physical, so he will need some time. I think his hockey sense and skating are there; he just needs to mature physically.
Sean Lorenz–He seemed to have some decent speed but didn’t stand out to me.
Kyle Medvec- I was expecting to see some giant that couldn’t skate. Medvec showed some mobility and decent hands but was just average with his passing and breaking out abilities. He is a large body with a great reach.
Tyler Cuma– He was clearly the smartest defenseman out there but seemed to be concentrating more on creating offense for the fans than playing good defense. He made a horrible cross ice pass within the first few minutes, then later on got walked twice by the toe drag, both of which led to goals. He did move the puck well in the offensive zone, was tough along the boards and had some decent shots on net. He reminds me of a more competetive Nick Schultz. He did seem to play better when he had better players out there so he may be one of those guys that always plays at the level of his competition. When he was with Falk and Gillies, they controlled the offensive zone fairly easily. All in all, I was impressed with Cuma.
Scandella-was he even out there?? I didn’t see his number once.
Ilvonen–I only noticed him on one decent rush in which he displayed some good speed. I didn’t notice him defensively, in terms of positioning or physical play.
Justin Falk-I like this kid a lot. He was big, mobile and had a hard shot. The year in AHL definitely made him look like a vet out there. When he was paired with Cuma, it looked like they could control the play all day. Give him some more time to gain confidence and he will be a good defenseman. I was really surprised with his passing and shot. It didn’t appear that he is looking to score but he doesn’t look lost like other big defenseman can.
Maxim Noreau–He did stand out as a fast, mobile offensive defenseman with some decent hands. I didn’t see him run the point or create anything down low but I could have missed some things. He did seem pretty small, though.
Hackett–He got scored on more than Kuemper but he definitely appeared to be the more athletic and mobile of the two. Both goalies had 1-2 really nice saves. A few of Hackett’s goals were right around the crease and I do believe if the defense was playing physical and competing at 100% (the competetiveness didn’t seem to pick up until near the end of the first period), I think a few of those goals wouldn’t have gone in.
Kuemper–He just seemed like a big body that takes up the net when he goes down into the butterfly. I think that his weakness is moving side to side and just overall athleticism. He was a little chippy with Gillies there and they ended up hugging after the whistle but it is nice to see Kuemper not be intimidated by someone who has already played in the NHL.
That is it!! Feel free to post your own thoughts!!
NOTE: I posted this on Wild.com and figured you all would enjoy it!
Damp: Yes, there was an Eero Elo sighting today. Too bad he didn’t do much. You kinda hardly noticed him out there.
The 4-on-4 format of the scrimmage was good to show what they can do, but there were a lot of odd-man rushes at times.
We got there with not much left to the game. Wish we would have been there sooner. Did get in on part of Russo’s interview. Took me a bit to figure out who was behind the green team’s bench. The Mr. Had to help me. Got Cal right away.
Jonsey
you live close to the x where? I don’t live far from the x either just up on 7th & smith.
Thanks Ben for doing Russo’s job for him. He should pay you.
is it just me…..or does alexi rameirez for the white soxs look like alien on crack?
this has been bugging me for a year!
I wish him well…..but man he freaks me out whenever I see him……
any of you lawyers also an expert in alien anyalysis??
burnsie is a riot man……that is some good stuff…….
Burns in a fedora…they could make a greeting card from those photos!
Thanks Ben…nice review!
WRT:
RE: The Fedora
Think Heimie’s Haberdashery kiddie corner from the St. Paul hotel….
Hey Ben, thanks for posting your thoughts on the scrim. It’s always good to get other perspectives on these kids. I just wish I was in MN to enjoy the game.. it sounds like it was a good time.
Great work Ben - thanks!
Wild(insert whatever here)…
Are you BBF with Lala72?
WRT
—Sections 126, 101-105 opened—
I guess “real fans” do sit in the lower bowl…..when its free.
kgopher - I’ll wager you got caught up in the detour for the Albertville tanker rollover. 2.5 hour trip from Brainerd turned into 4 hours for a buddy of mine.
Did Burnsie get married this weekend or last? Course, how does a guy with a zoo get out of town for an extended honeymoon anyway?
Mister Know it all was at the training today with his 9 year old son and 6 year old daughter
Here is what I will tell you about what I seen
Tyler Cuma again will be with the team
Pete Kalus will not be with the team at the beginning but I could see him getting a shot if injuries occur.
Colton Gillie I have always said would be SRV replacement and he will. He will be here
I will say congrads to Tommy Thompson in advance for drafting Kyle Medvec in the 6th round. If Kyle wants to go for the NHL he will be there. After watching him today I would say the choice is his hands.
Morton Madsen shows nice stuff but he is not going anywhere
It’s been six years today since the MrsATX married my sorry ass. Had a good day, even though the restaurant we really wanted to go to was closed. The only thing that would have made the day better would have been a trip to the X to see the Scrimmage. Oh well, you can’t have it all I guess. Cheers Russoville!
Happy Anniversary, ATX and WATX!
ATXs…10 years on Wednesday for Mrs. kj and I.
I was not the oldest dude at Target Center on Saturday night.
Wished I could have seen the prospects yesterday. Sounds like it was almost January in July.
MKVN…did Modano stop by?
So, to try and sum up the offseason thus far, we replaced a few defensemen, perhaps improving the blue line slightly, we lost our best scorer in Gabby, we added Havlat, but other than that we are the same team we were last year from a roster perspective. This is beginning to sound like a Do Nothing Doug Risebrough offseason.
Pwr2Ppl: I’d like some of what you are smoking. Do you actually think if DR were still running the Wild that he would have signed Havlat? DR would have let Gabby go and then signed 3 or 4 4th liners to take his place and told the public that there was just nothing better out there that he could get.
While the team may or may not have improved much on paper, it has improved its depth and improved its prospects.
As nice as it would be to see Fletcher put together the next SC champs, it isn’t going to happen in one off season.
SotB: When those lower-level sections are the only ones open, you sit where you can. Those sections were full…no open rows at all. As I said, late arrivals wound up standing.
Great showing of support yesterday. The kids on the ice looked like they were having a good time (Kalus excepted, he looked — and played — like he wanted to go home…again) and so did the fans (including the one guy who had to scream ‘PASS THE PUCK!’ at full throat, like he was actually coaching the kids) for the most part.
Congratulations for the ATx’s and the kj’s on their anniversaries. Hopefully the wives feel the same way.
As long as Jon Bream is reviewing music for the StarTribune, kj, you will NEVER be the oldest dude at a GreenDay concert.
Maybe they should offer a seniors’ discount for GreenDay tickets! 
Schedule Release at 1 PM Wednesday. I can’t wait…
Ben,
You da man, thanks. Keep it up and you can guilt Russo into a free Strib subscription.
I saw someone else mention the “pass the puck” guy and they said something like, “The one thing this team DOESN’T need is more people to pass the puck!” LOL
I’m bored this morning. Guess I’ll watch the scrimmage…
Gah. It’s just the Falness interviews, not the scrimmage itself. Boo. No offense, Falness… you know you’re my hero.
test
Weird, I was blocked earlier.
Wait…. kj went to the Green Day concert?…. bloody heck am I jealous. One of my favorite bands ever!!!
The Mr and I were in Duluth, celebrating our Anniversary (8 years and counting) or we would have gone to the scrimmage.Is there pictures anywhere of Burnzie all dressed-up?
We are now dog sitting for my sister since she took care of my fuzzy boys while we were in Duluth. I should get off my as of last Friday under emplolyed a$$ and walk said doggies. Not sure I can do all three at once…
Geez, tons of anniversaries. Congratz and whatnot!
I agree, BG: we need some pics of a guady, Cherry Burns. I’m envisioning a pheasant feather in the band of his fedora. A vest, too, with a pocket watch. 
Kj, Modano did not stop by but I do believe the Wild are looking into it. I dont think the Wilds interest have anything to do with whether he played in Minnesota. I think he is the best player available and the right fit. I will say that fan interest will naturally increase when you get the number 1 american born scorer on your roster and the most well known Minnesota North Star player that most of us our most familiar with.
Mister Know it all has asked others on here to offer some alternative center options, and thus far none exist Kj
Mister Know it all has been married 13 yrs, so he is tops of this group of the above mentioned. My wife has 0 interest in hockey unlike my posse on here
If you could swing a deal like Jordan Stall for PMB, then great. Equal risk is involved in both players. One would think that Jordan may feel like he is taking a back seat to Malkin and Crosby with his development
PMB with Crosby or Malkin may make Shero think of the possibilities
Pictures of Burnzie and Clutter: http://boards.wild.com/index.php?showtopic=28738&view=findpost&p=967193
Burnzie looks like he should have a 1920s flapper on each arm.
The Mr and I were in Duluth, celebrating our Anniversary (8 years and counting
Is your anniversay on teh 12th too? Congrats btw!
ms.c, those pics are awesome. Burns is one funny dood.
Russo tweets that Jersey may be naming a coach today. No hint if it’s Trapper Jacques…
I just watched the shootout video from the development camp on wild.com. Palmer scored a pretty slick looking goal there. It’s at the 4:02 mark in the video on the front page of wild.com for those who are interested.
This is beginning to sound like a Do Nothing Doug Risebrough offseason.
Are we going to spend another week debating this?
Congrats to all those celebrating anniversaries (mine’s not until September).
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=442505&navid=DL|NHL|Home
NHL.com states that there is press conf today to name a coach for the devils. JAC????
Sounds like JL is in as coach of Devils, I hope we play them this year.
Yep - Devils reportedly set to bring back Lemaire as coach - http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=442505
Man, Burns looks like an extra from “The Untouchables” or the new Dillinger movie - all that’s missing is the Tommy Gun. Funny stuff…
Hey if JL goes back to the Devils, then we know Marty S has a new team as well, and maybe DR will become their AGM.
Actually I dont think JL and DR saw eye to eye on a lot of stuff. Honestly wouldnt be surprised if Skoula is wearing the red and black soon though.
When will the “Skoula Sucks!” chants start in Jersey?
When will the “Skoula Sucks!” chants start in Jersey?
The first time Bad Marty (Skoula) leaves Good Marty (Brodeur) hung out to dry by allowing a 2-on-0 (Probably Gaborik and Voros.)
Maybe JL will want to part with Paul Martin and Zack Parise.
Maybe CF can convince JL to take Zidlicky and (No)Mitts for them…
Gotta convince Lou Lamoriello to do that, and I’d say it’s about as likely as Martin Skoula having a Gordie Howe Hat Trick.
Alrighty. Anybody got tips for fun stuff to do in Kansas City? Besides watch the Royals suck and enjoy the lows in the 60s (yeehaw!)
Country Club Plaza in KC is one of the nation’s first shopping malls. It’s got a number of good restaurants, shops, etc., and it even has decent parking nearby.
You’re going too early! You need to wait ’til August when the Chiefs start playing, then go to Arrowhead and get as drunk as they do…
—When those lower-level sections are the only ones open, you sit where you can.—
Pretty easy to abandon your principles when seats are free. 
—the one guy who had to scream ‘PASS THE PUCK!’ at full throat—
Great. A hockey parent doing off season training.
—Burns looks like an extra from “The Untouchables—
I hope he didn’t just hold on to the tux rental from his wedding for an extra week.
Skoula would look good hoisting the SC in Jersey.
So, with the Wild schedule coming out this week, the Mrs and I can finally plan our trip to Arizona. My one question to those in the know (WRT or anyone who goes to Wild away games), should I buy tickets online at face value, or buy them from scalpers the day of the game?
This is Phoenix, so I am not too worried about not getting tickets, but given their current financial condition, I almost feel obligated to buy at face value
oldtymehockey says:
July 13th, 2009 at 10:45 am
When will the “Skoula Sucks!” chants start in Jersey?
We’ll all know on Wednesday when the schedule comes out.
I would say about 8-10 minutes into the Devils first home pre-season game, at ‘the Rock’.
I still want to know what pictures Skoula has of JL, and where, and with whom…
Food.
Gotta go now. Gotta decide if I’m willing to live there. *sigh*
Gunslinger: I get e-mails from the ‘Yotes all the time. Last season they offered single game tickets at the group discount (35% off) price between mid-August and mid-September. I’ll keep you in mind…
SotB: I think you need a trip to Newark this season, to go see your buddy Marty S. play this winter. You seem to be as obsessed with Skoula as everyone else claimed I was.
Ms. C.: At least from KC you could make trips up here easier to see ‘the big club’ play at home. Also, trips to Chicago, St. Louis and Colorado become easier, also…
Ms.C, just stay away from Imo’s Pizza… That is the worst pizza I have ever had.
Good Time Yesterday,
Glad Russo got a good ovation during his brief interview :).
All those sections were pretty full, I would guess that would be about 2-3K.
I certainly don’t have thoughts on the players better than Ben’s. I agree Gilles looked really good, but it’s hard to see how that’ll translate against NHL talent (albiet probably 4th line NHL talent when he does get in the lineup).
Still it was a taste of winter in July, and I enjoyed it thoroughly :).
No problem! I really enjoyed it! I am glad that I was able to give you guys some views on what I saw. It is hard knowing that we have a long time before we get to see more hockey!
I may be too late, ms. c, but just in case:
As a current resident of the KC area, here are my suggestions:
Eat some BBQ. Tons of it here, and varying opinions on what’s best, but virtually everyone love Oklahoma Joe’s. At 47th & Mission on the Kansas side. It’s in a gas station (really).
If you’re into this kind of thing, I highly recommend visiting the World War I memorial and museum.
If you like hip, downtown entertainment districts, we have the brand new Power & Light district w lots of bars, restaurants, some theaters, etc.
If you’re a shop-a-holic, then visit Country Club Plaza (”the Plaza” to locals) as suggested by WRT.
And FYI, the new improvements to Kaufman stadium are very nice. Be sure to get up and walk around it once if you go.
